Anne Frank and the Freedom Writers

The message of hope lives on in a most unlikely place.

When The Diary of Anne Frank was first made public almost 50 years ago, she came to signify the tragic heroes who survived the Holocaust, although she was certainly more heroine than tragic. Here was a young Jewish girl, hiding from the Gestapo with her family in a secret apartment in Amsterdam looking at an uncertain survival. Yet her diary revealed a sense of optimism for a better future, a lack of fear, and hopefulness that against all odds they would survive. And though Anne Frank perished, the diary that she left behind lives on, and continues to powerfully impact the lives of others.

The movie "Freedom Writers" is based on the true story of Erin Gruwell, played by Academy Award winner Hilary Swank. Erin is a novice high school teacher whose first assignment is teaching freshman English to a class of angry and disinterested white, black, Latino and Asian students in Long Beach, California after the Rodney King riots in 1992. Passionate about teaching and determined to make a difference, she isn't easily deterred by her students' angry outbursts and a general lack of interest in learning anything she's so earnestly trying to teach them. Instead, she searches for ways to appeal to them.

The opportunity presents itself in the form of a cartoon she confiscates from one of the students in class. Depicted in the cartoon is a hand drawn caricature of a black man with exaggerated thick lips. Erin then makes the connection between the drawing she holds in her hand and the cartoons used for anti-semitic propaganda leading up to the Holocaust - which only one student in the class had even heard of. But now that she has their attention, the door to their expanded universe is about to open.

Since the school board and her superiors consider her students a lost cause, Erin takes two part time jobs so that she can buy her students books that they can relate to. Surprisingly, instead of choosing a book about the inner city experience, she selects one with a Jewish theme instead -- The Diary of Anne Frank. Unexpectedly, it is a book to which they feel an instant connection. Not only can they understand Anne's adolescent angst, but they also know well her feelings of helplessness and alienation in a world she cannot control but which threatens to destroy her. With drive by shootings, random attacks and gang wars a normal part of their own lives, they see the destructive power of prejudice and blind hatred.

"Anne Frank understands our situation," says Eva, one of the Latina girls. So totally identified is she with Anne that when she realizes that Anne dies, Eva is outraged and feels personally betrayed. "Why didn't you tell us that she dies?" she rails at Erin.

The Diary serves as a moral imperative to rise above their own suffering and to survive, enlightened just as the Jewish people have managed to do.

Erin then gives them journals in which to make daily entries on anything at all that comes to mind. Their personal writings convey the tension, mindless violence, and sadness that dominate their lives. Excerpts from their journals are used very effectively in voice-overs during the film and their prose eventually becomes The Freedom Writers' Diary, an anthology on which the film is based.

When the students learn that Miep Gies, the Dutch woman who risked her life to keep the Frank family hidden, is still alive in the Netherlands, they embark on a fund raiser to bring her to their class as a guest speaker. It is the emotional highlight of the film. Visibly moved by the courageous stories of this now elderly woman (played by actress Pat Carroll), the students instantly see her as a hero.

"I was not a hero," she says. "I was an ordinary person. All I did was do the right thing. But you are heroes everyday. You are turning on a light in a dark room."

Seeing that her young charges are now committed to "The Diary," Erin herself sponsors a trip to the Simon Wiesenthal Center Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. To personalize the experience, each student is given a card with the picture and story of a child who perished in the Holocaust. It is a poignant, wordless moment in the film, appropriately followed by a dinner with four Holocaust survivors.

This little gem of a film is filled with fine, authentic, credible performances, especially Hilary Swank's which is powerful without being dominating. It also does not use the suffering of the Jewish people to exploit sentimentality. Instead, it provides a context in which these young people can see their own suffering, not as a justification to keep them in the misery of their own lives, but rather as a moral imperative to rise above it and to survive, enlightened just as the Jewish people have managed to do. It's an extraordinary example of learning the lessons of history for personal transformation and renewal.

It is no accident that the majority of Erin Grewall's students went on to college. Their creating The Freedom Writers' Diary serves as a testimony to their transformation. As one of the students says in reference to their diary, "It's something to leave behind. We were here. We mattered." Just like Anne Frank.

Visitor Comments: 9

(8)
Anonymous,
August 8, 2011 7:22 AM

Are we comparing living in America to Europe under the National Socialists fascists and their collaborators

It is a peculiar analogy to draw between a Jewish child and her family hidden from an entire world that looked only to destroy them on account of their being Jewish - and Black, Latino and culturally disadvantaged children living in America! Better and more accurately make a comparison to the Jews who escaped the pogroms and anti-Semitism of Czarist Russia, poverty and anti-Semitism in Eastern Europe that immigrated to America - legitimately - and how they worked very heard to learn English, worked in sweat shops and did everything to raise themselves above the conditions they found themselves upon arriving in America. And did so without the support of tax payer provided public assistance, housing, education, utilities, food stamps, et cetera. None of which was provided to the Jewish children placed on death row for reason of being Jews!
How dare a comparison be made with us children hidden from murderers from which very, very few were to survive. Oh dare you!
Pointing fingers against America -
What are the parents of these children doing to bring them up properly as Jewish mothers and fathers have done for millennium!
They should be the ones in school to learn how from the Jewish immigrants that came to America including survivors of the Holocaust that became themselves and raised their children to be upstanding citizens of America and contributors to America and the world!

Dvirah,
October 17, 2012 5:41 PM

Nevertheless

Anonymous, August 8, 2011 7:22 AM is technically correct in pointing out the differences in the two circumstances, but misses the real point: how people feel when, for one reason or another, the "deck is stacked against them." Any individual has only his own experience to go by, and the feeling of being outcast in your own society is the same even if the severity of the circumstances are not.

(7)
Anonymous,
May 26, 2010 4:47 AM

goood

Every so often I dream of writting something that would help change the world to a better place.

(6)
Ryan Henderson`,
August 19, 2009 7:14 AM

Moving and Inspirational

This movie moved me. It put many things into perspective for people like those kids in the english class. how one person can change so many others. just like the many heroes in the holocaust. Great film.

(5)
roamin holley,
August 12, 2009 4:57 PM

I love the books and the movies freedom writers

the freedom writers is a good book and movie to wach or read cause it amazing how the boy's and girl change there life around in the end and miss g hepl them out at lot if it wasnot for her most of them would of never made it to college or they might of been dead and the reson y i think teenagers can relate to the feedom writers cause uproble going therw the same think i been therw the same thing they whent to kick out of school shot at fight kick out my mom house and all that some time i use to were the same clothes twice a week when i was kick out of school and i got alot of bead home boys but when i read this book it insired me and i start going back to school innow i'm makeing all a and b and i'm in the 10th grade well i'm out so talk later

(4)
Skylar Gabrielsen,
May 19, 2007 7:34 PM

I Like The Freedom Writers So Much !

I Love The Movie Freedom Writers. Its So Amazing.There is some parts that i do not like.But it is a Great Movie.Ihave the movie and seen it about 100 Times. i Love it so much !

(3)
Barbara,
January 16, 2007 6:46 PM

What an emotional film!

Brenda's review of the film is right on target. The movie is so moving, that I've ordered a copy of the Freedom Writer's Diary.

(2)
Anonymous,
January 16, 2007 5:15 AM

Every so often I dream of writting something that would help change the world to a better place. To me, Brenda Yablon's story of Ann Frank and the freedom writers, does just that. I am so moved by the small email here that I had to write and tell someone that i am so moved... to look into my life and others around me, to find that story that would move the world as Ms Yablon has moved me.

(1)
Diane T. Marsh,
January 14, 2007 2:29 PM

Article led me to decision to see movie.

The film clips I had seen on TV did not emphasize the connection between the teacher, her students and the suffering of the Jewish people during the Holocaust. Reading this article led me to decide to see the movie. I thought it was just more drivel turned out by Hollywood. This story sounds too good to be fiction - is it based on a true life experience? If this article is accurate - and I have no doubt that it is - this movie should prove to be an example which should be taught in all schools no matter where they are located. Children living and attending schools in inner cities; and children living and attending schools in more affluent suburbs and towns can all learn from this experience. Societies all over the world have a new generation who know very little about the Holocaust and need to be educated. All it would take for this to happen again is for a few good people doing nothing!

I just got married and have an important question: Can we eat rice on Passover? My wife grew up eating it, and I did not. Is this just a matter of family tradition?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

The Torah instructs a Jew not to eat (or even possess) chametz all seven days of Passover (Exodus 13:3). "Chametz" is defined as any of the five grains (wheat, spelt, barley, oats, and rye) that came into contact with water for more than 18 minutes. Chametz is a serious Torah prohibition, and for that reason we take extra protective measures on Passover to prevent any mistakes.

Hence the category of food called "kitniyot" (sometimes referred to generically as "legumes"). This includes rice, corn, soy beans, string beans, peas, lentils, peanuts, mustard, sesame seeds and poppy seeds. Even though kitniyot cannot technically become chametz, Ashkenazi Jews do not eat them on Passover. Why?

Products of kitniyot often appear like chametz products. For example, it can be hard to distinguish between rice flour (kitniyot) and wheat flour (chametz). Also, chametz grains may become inadvertently mixed together with kitniyot. Therefore, to prevent confusion, all kitniyot were prohibited.

In Jewish law, there is one important distinction between chametz and kitniyot. During Passover, it is forbidden to even have chametz in one's possession (hence the custom of "selling chametz"). Whereas it is permitted to own kitniyot during Passover and even to use it - not for eating - but for things like baby powder which contains cornstarch. Similarly, someone who is sick is allowed to take medicine containing kitniyot.

What about derivatives of kitniyot - e.g. corn oil, peanut oil, etc? This is a difference of opinion. Many will use kitniyot-based oils on Passover, while others are strict and only use olive or walnut oil.

Finally, there is one product called "quinoa" (pronounced "ken-wah" or "kin-o-ah") that is permitted on Passover even for Ashkenazim. Although it resembles a grain, it is technically a grass, and was never included in the prohibition against kitniyot. It is prepared like rice and has a very high protein content. (It's excellent in "cholent" stew!) In the United States and elsewhere, mainstream kosher supervision agencies certify it "Kosher for Passover" -- look for the label.

Interestingly, the Sefardi Jewish community does not have a prohibition against kitniyot. This creates the strange situation, for example, where one family could be eating rice on Passover - when their neighbors will not. So am I going to guess here that you are Ashkenazi and your wife is Sefardi. Am I right?

Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Moses ben Nachman (1194-1270), known as Nachmanides, and by the acronym of his name, Ramban. Born in Spain, he was a physician by trade, but was best-known for authoring brilliant commentaries on the Bible, Talmud, and philosophy. In 1263, King James of Spain authorized a disputation (religious debate) between Nachmanides and a Jewish convert to Christianity, Pablo Christiani. Nachmanides reluctantly agreed to take part, only after being assured by the king that he would have full freedom of expression. Nachmanides won the debate, which earned the king's respect and a prize of 300 gold coins. But this incensed the Church: Nachmanides was charged with blasphemy and he was forced to flee Spain. So at age 72, Nachmanides moved to Jerusalem. He was struck by the desolation in the Holy City -- there were so few Jews that he could not even find a minyan to pray. Nachmanides immediately set about rebuilding the Jewish community. The Ramban Synagogue stands today in Jerusalem's Old City, a living testimony to his efforts.

It's easy to be intimidated by mean people. See through their mask. Underneath is an insecure and unhappy person. They are alienated from others because they are alienated from themselves.

Have compassion for them. Not pity, not condemning, not fear, but compassion. Feel for their suffering. Identify with their core humanity. You might be able to influence them for the good. You might not. Either way your compassion frees you from their destructiveness. And if you would like to help them change, compassion gives you a chance to succeed.

It is the nature of a person to be influenced by his fellows and comrades (Rambam, Hil. De'os 6:1).

We can never escape the influence of our environment. Our life-style impacts upon us and, as if by osmosis, penetrates our skin and becomes part of us.

Our environment today is thoroughly computerized. Computer intelligence is no longer a science-fiction fantasy, but an everyday occurrence. Some computers can even carry out complete interviews. The computer asks questions, receives answers, interprets these answers, and uses its newly acquired information to ask new questions.

Still, while computers may be able to think, they cannot feel. The uniqueness of human beings is therefore no longer in their intellect, but in their emotions.

We must be extremely careful not to allow ourselves to become human computers that are devoid of feelings. Our culture is in danger of losing this essential aspect of humanity, remaining only with intellect. Because we communicate so much with unfeeling computers, we are in danger of becoming disconnected from our own feelings and oblivious to the feelings of others.

As we check in at our jobs, and the computer on our desk greets us with, "Good morning, Mr. Smith. Today is Wednesday, and here is the agenda for today," let us remember that this machine may indeed be brilliant, but it cannot laugh or cry. It cannot be happy if we succeed, or sad if we fail.

Today I shall...

try to remain a human being in every way - by keeping in touch with my own feelings and being sensitive to the feelings of others.

With stories and insights,
Rabbi Twerski's new book Twerski on Machzor makes Rosh Hashanah prayers more meaningful. Click here to order...